Saputo launched JOYYA ultrafiltered milk, a proudly all-Canadian dairy product and next step in the superfood movement. It’s produced in Canada, by Canadians for Canadians, and offers 75% more protein and 25% less lactose (sugar) than regular milk.

I was curious to try these as my doctor told me to cut down on the sugar and increase my intake of protein due to my gestational diabetes.

No powdered protein or supplements are added to JOYYA. The ultrafiltration process concentrates larger milk components such as protein and seperates some of the lactose from the milk.

JOYYA ultrafiltered milk is available in a 1-litre format in the following varieties:

• Skim Milk
• Partly Skimmed Milk
• Whole Milk
• Chocolate Dairy beverage -Partly Skimmed

I tried the Chocolate Dairy Beverage and the Partly Skimmed Milk. Both were good and had a slightly thicker consistency. The taste was consistent with regular milk and you probably wouldn’t notice a difference if no one told you.

You can drink it straight up, have it in cereal, or in your coffee or tea.

JOYYA ultrafiltered milk can now be found at Canada’s community grocers and independent specialty stores, with more retail outlets to come.

Website:
http://joyya.ca/

The holidays are starting to ramp up, which means more holiday parties in the upcoming weeks. If you’re hosting festivities at your place, feeding a group of hungry guests can be a challenge when there is only so much time to prep. I usually like to have a charcuterie board out so guests can nibble on a few items before the main courses begins. This year, we are mixing things up by creating a hummus board to bring more plant-based protein in the mix, plus hummus is so delicious and full of flavour.

To put your hummus board together, it all starts with choosing your hummus flavours. Sabra has 8 flavours to choose from and they are available at most major grocery store chains across Canada.

• Classic Hummus
• Caramelized Onion with Smoked Paprika
• Greek Olive Hummus
• Roasted Garlic Hummus
• Roasted Pine Nut Hummus
• Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
• Spinach Artichoke Hummus
• Supreme Spicy Hummus

I went with Classic, Roasted Pine Nut and Supreme Spicy Hummus to have a good diversity of hummus flavours.

When deciding what else to add to the hummus board, you can decide to choose a plant-forward option or meat-forward based on what your guests enjoy. I personally like a good mix so guests can pick and choose what they want to munch on.

When arranging it on the table, I like to use large cutting boards or larger plates to create an epic hummus board. I used 4 boards to lay everything out of my dining room table.

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Cheese:

• Havarti
• Herbed Goat Cheese
• Applewood Smoked Cheddar
• Double Creamed Brie

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Meats:

• Prosciutto
• Coppa di Parma
• Mild Genoa Salami

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Vegetables:

• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Carrots
• Red Peppers
• Cucumbers
• Celery
• Olives
• Artichoke

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Fruits:

• Apple
• Pear
• Grapes
• Dried Apricot
• Dried Mangoes

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Nuts:

• Pistachios

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Crackers:

• Veggie Crackers

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Mix up the ingredients however you like. I kept my hummus board simple so I didn’t have to do any additional cooking. I spent most of my time cutting vegetables and taking items out of their packaging. Sabra offers delicious, creamy hummus inspired recipes made by hummus experts, check out a few of their recipes on their website.

I am an absolute fan of hummus and a hummus board is perfect for the holidays for entertaining made easy. Adapt the taste to have it more plant-forward or meat-forward by picking and choosing what accompanies the hummus. With 8 different flavours of Sabra hummus to choose from, the combinations are endless. Looking forward to see what is on your hummus board this year.

This blog post was sponsored by Sabra Canada but the opinions are all my own.

With the winter approaching and temperatures across Canada getting closer to 0°C, what better way to warm up that with some hot cozy cocktails. We have heard of classics like mulled wine, hot toddies and hot cocoa with a splash of liqueur, but have you considered hot gin cocktails?

Gin is great as it has those forward botanical flavours like juniper that speak to the holiday season. Sipsmith London Dry Gin is a great aromatic base for hot drinks. With a twist on the classic cocktail, hot gin offers a way to explore cocktail making when the temperature cools down.

Below are a few recipes you can craft up this holiday season.

Hot Clementine

• 1.5oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 1/3oz gomme syrup
• 1/4 oz freshly squeezed clementine juice
• 2 dashes Angostura bitters
• Sage leaf, to garnish

Fill a mixing glass with ice. Add the first four ingredients and stir well. Strain into a chilled rocks glass, and garnish with a dried blood orange slice and rosemary sprig.

Hot G&T

• 1.5oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 0.5oz Jack Rudy Tonic Syrup
• 1/3oz Sugar Syrup
• Boiling water
• Orange twist

Combine Sipsmith gin, tonic syrup and sugar syrup in a mug or heatproof stem glass. Stir well and top with boiling water. Garnish with an orange twist.

Hot Negroni

• 1oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 1oz Campari
• 1oz Sweet vermouth
• Red berry tea
• Dehydrated orange

Pour Sipsmith, Campari and sweet vermouth into a mug and stir. Top with hot red berry tea and garnish with a dehydrated orange or a fresh orange slice.

Hot Pharmaceutical

• 1.5oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 0.5oz maple syrup
• 0.5oz coffee liqueur
• 2 oz fresh espresso
• Fresh cream
• 3 coffee beans, to garnish

Add Sipsmith, maple syrup, coffee liqueur and fresh espresso into a glass vessel you can seal. Place the vessel inside a hot water bath and leave until it has warmed to 70 degrees C. Remove and pour into a coupette. Float slightly whipped fresh cream on top and garnish with the coffee beans.

Gingerbread Sour

• 1.5oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 0.5oz Lemon Juice
• 0.5oz Gingerbread Syrup
• Egg white
• 1 dash Regans Orange Bitters
• Fresh Ginger to garnish

Add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker and dry shake. Add ice and shake again. Double strain into a chilled glass and garnish with slices of fresh ginger.

Blood Orange Negroni

• 1 oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 1oz Campari
• 0.5oz Picon
• 1oz fresh Blood Orange Juice
• Dried blood orange slice
• Rosemary sprig

Fill a mixing glass with ice and add all ingredients into the glass. Stir and strain into a chilled rocks glass. Garnish with dried blood orange and rosemary

Chestnut Martini

• 1.5oz Sipsmith London Dry Gin
• 1 teaspoon Chestnut Syrup
• 2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
• Green Chartreuse Rinse
• Glacé Cherries

Combine all ingredients except the Chartreuse in an ice filled mixing glass. Stir well. Rinse a chilled coupette with Green Chartreuse and double strain ingredients into the glass. Garnish with glacé cherries.

Website:
https://sipsmith.com/product/london-dry-gin/

With the holidays just around the corner, a good spirit is just what you need to ring in the holidays with friends and family. Toki Suntory Whisky is an affordable Japanese whisky that works great in cocktails or straight up.

It is a blended whisky made with a variety of whiskies from Suntory’s distilleries. It is clear gold in colour with subtle flavours of citrus, green apple and thyme. Then it finishes with mildly sweet and spicy notes of vanilla and ginger that linger pleasantly. It is smooth and has a good balance of flavours.

It’s a good gift for a spirit connoisseur to explore the world of Japanese Whisky or just for anyone to try something new that they are unfamiliar with from this region. Or as a cocktail at a party to pair with your holiday charcuterie boards.

Here is the recipe for the Toki Highball below:

If you want to use Toki Suntory Whisky in a cocktail, this the Toki Highball.

1. Fill a tall glass to the brim with ice
2. Add 1 oz of Toki Suntory Whisky
3. Stir
4. Pour 3 ounces of sparkling water
5. Garnish with lemon peel

When going over to a friends house or giving a gift, check out Suntory Whisky Toki as it might pleasantly surprise you and your friends.

Website:
https://whisky.suntory.com/en/na/products/toki/

Bokksu creates curated boxes of authentic Japanese snacks and teas delivered to your door every month. Depending on where you are in the world having access to delicious Japanese snacks can be hard to get. Plus, Japan always has the best selection of unique treats, sweets, and teas.

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Referral Code: $5 off your first Classic Bokksu. http://bokksu.refr.cc/dianachan

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The November 2018 Subscription box celebrates the place of tea in modern Japan as an infused flavour in delicious desserts as well as a beloved beverage to pair with sweet or savoury treats.

In this box, there are 10 different types of teas and snacks inside. There are some similar brands and some not, but it’s fun to try them all to see if there is a new favourite snack.

These are all the items in the box from cookies, to crackers, to tea.

Yamematcha mini dorayaki

Matcha Chocolate Coated Pecans

Alfort Milk Tea Chocolate

Milk Tea Cake

Olive Oil Spicy pepper Senbei

Iced Coffee Chocolate Sandwich

Matcha Milk Beans

Genmaicha Tea

Hokkaido Cheese Mochi

Foliage Rice Crackers

Final Thoughts

My favourite items this month are the matcha milk beans, milk tea cake, and matcha chocolate coated pecans.

If you are a fan of Japanese snacks and teas, you can get Bokku delivered to your home. Each box ranges around $30 depending on your frequency of subscription. They also have a marketplace too on the website if you want to buy the snacks separately rather than a subscription box.

You can get $5 off your first Classic Bokksu with our referral code. http://bokksu.refr.cc/dianachan

Nespresso released new festive capsules this holiday season. They want to make this winter a little bit sweeter as holiday parties gather around the home. The Limited Edition Variations coffees and accessories is inspired by Parisian patisserie and designed in partnership with India Mahdavi.

There are 3 capsules for the regular machine and 3 more for their Vertuo machine. Plus, 2 recipes to get the best out of these new flavours. These are available in stores where Nespresso products are sold or online as well.

Original

Paris Macaron
(Intensity 6)

This has a combination of Livanto’s cereal notes and a subtle, sweet almond flavour inspired by macarons.

Paris Praline
(Intensity 6)

This has a base of Livanto with hazelut roasted flavour and a caramel sweetness. Those combinations make a delicious praline dessert.

Paris Black
(Intensity 9)

The stronger of the capsules and it has notes of cereal and nuts with spicy and woody tones.

Vertuo

Paris Exotic Macaron
(Intensity 5)

This capsule has a delicate coconut flavour blend, which gives you the taste of macarons. They use a sooth Arabica blend from Ethiopia, Central and South America giving this coffee sweet notes.

Paris Madeleine
(Intensity 5)

An added hint of almond gives you a taste of madeleines. You get delicate hints of biscuits given by Arabicas from Ethiopia, Central and South America.

Paris Black
(Intensity 11)

Of the 3 new Vertuo capsules, this one is double in strength for a true Parisian experience. It has smooth cereal notes with a strong spicy character.

Recipes

Instead of having it straight or with milk and sugar. There are a few interesting recipes using the Paris Black Capsules to enhance the experience.

Paris Black Chocolate Macchiato

Café gourmand meets café noisette when you drop your bite-sized treat of a dark chocolate square straight into your espresso with milk.

1. Drop the Nespresso dark chocolate square in the Espresso cup.
2. Extract the coffee (40 ml) over it.
3. Add 10 ml of milk.

Paris Back Gourmet Reverso

You’ll taste its decadent dark chocolate, praline, and coffee flavours and its rich, creamy taste when you try this coffee recipe.

• Pour 8ml of milk in an Espresso cup
• Extract the coffee (40ml) over it
• Spread the praline crumbs and chocolate shavings on top

Website:
https://www.nespresso.com/

Oh Henry! launched their 4:25 bar earlier this Summer but it was a bit hard to find on grocery store shelves. As the government of Canada is legalizing cannabis on October 17, 2018, it makes sense that the 4:25 Bar is back on store shelves. When I saw it, I decided to buy a few to review.

From the colours of the packaging and name, the idea of creating this chocolate bar was to associate it with cannabis culture.

This bar has crunchy peanuts wrapped around chewy caramel and supposedly looking to satisfy your munchies 5 minutes after 4:20. It is just made out of peanuts and caramel, so there isn’t any cannabis in it.

Whether you are for or against cannabis culture, I’m really just interested in how this 4:35 bar tastes like. There are a lot of peanuts covering the caramel and surprisingly the caramel didn’t stick too much to my teeth. The texture was what I enjoyed the most. I thought I would miss the chocolate like in the original Oh Henry! bar but I didn’t mind it at all.

It’s only available for a limited time, so I’m not sure how long it will be on store shelves for, but get it before it’s gone.

M&M’s is launching their new line of chocolate bars as of October 4th and will be widely available across Canada in 2019.

These are available in 5 different varieties:

• Peanut
• Milk Chocolate
• Crispy
• Almond
• Crispy Mint

The M&M’s Chocolate Bars consist of smooth milk chocolate with whole M&M Minis visible throughout a large, molded and sharable bar format.

Each piece has an ideal ratio of creamy milk chocolate and M&M minis. There is a crunch in every bite.

Peanut

Inside the milk chocolate bar, there are the Mini’s as well as peanuts. This was my favourite of the bunch as the texture from the Mini’s and peanuts go so well together.

Milk Chocolate

The classic milk chocolate bar with Mini’s. Uncomplicated and simple for the milk chocolate lover.

Crispy

Another delicious combination with Mini’s and crisp rice. Great for texture as you chimp down on each piece.

Almond

Another nutty variety with bits of almond and Mini’s. This was good too. The almond was subtle and not as strong as the peanuts.

Crispy Mint

When you open the package, the fragrance of mint will envelop your senses. Combined with the Mini’s and crisp rice, this might just be for you.

Final Thoughts

It’s interesting that they launched 5 varieties of the bar instead of just one to cater to those with different preferences. If you see them at your local store, definitely pick one up and share it with friends.

Website:
http://www.mms.com/

Natrel just launched their whipped dip and spread in grocery stores across Canada. They are reinventing classic cottage cheese by adding a gourmet touch. It is whipped to a smooth and creamy consistency. It comes in 3 flavours – chive and garlic, roasted red pepper and plain.

Can’t go wrong with this high in protein and low in calories addition to your snack. I took these 3 flavours to make a few easy dishes to share with friends and family.

Veggie Dip

Using the Chive and Garlic Dip and Spread was great with veggies and crackers. All you have to do it buy some veggies and cut them up. The flavour enhances the vegetables and your guests don’t have to feel guilty about it since its lower in calories.

When I shared it with friends, they did enjoy the Chive and Garlic Dip and Spread. Even with potato chips or tortilla chips, its a great combination.

Toasts

I love a good homemade toast and its a lot cheaper to make at home. I used the Roasted Red Pepper and Plain Whipped Dip and Spread as the base layer to my toast. Then I added items like avocado, tomatoes, corn, radishes, pea shoots, salt and pepper. Or if you like it plain with no toppings, you can do that too. There is no right or wrong way to make toast.

The fun part is being able to mix and match ingredients with different flavours to create something delicious.

Just remember, a good quality loaf of bread really makes the toast stand out because that’s your foundation.

Final Thoughts

There are definitely different dips and spreads out in the market but not that many that you can double up as a dip and spread. Very versatile and gives you more options to do more with it. As it is cottage cheese, you can feel good that its high in protein and low in fat. Plus it tastes good and made with 100% Canadian milk.

You can find this at most major grocery stores across Canada.

Website:
https://www.natrel.ca/en/whipped-dips-spreads

Did you know it’s finally ok to eat candy for breakfast? Sugarfina just launched a new collection of candy and chocolate bars that will make you feel less guilty of eating candy in the morning.

These chocolate bars and candies are inspired by favourite childhood breakfasts like Marshmallow Cereal Chocolate Bars, Cinnamon Cereal Chocolate bars, Fruity Loops, Cinnamon Crunchies and Gummy Eggs. They are sure to give you some nostalgia.

The Chocolate Bars

Their 3 chocolate bars are stunning and you can see right through the packaging and into the beautiful colourful bars. The flavours are:

• Marshmallow Cereal Chocolate Bar
• Fruity Cereal Chocolate Bar
• Cinnamon Cereal Chocolate Bar

Cinnamon Cereal Chocolate Bar

This bar is made with a base of White chocolate topped with Cinnamon Cereal. When you bite into it, reminders of Cinnamon Toast Crunch brings back memories of this classic cereal. It was a surprising flavour that we enjoyed in a chocolate bar format.

Fruity Cereal Chocolate Bar

This bar has a pale pink chocolate topped with fruity cereal and rainbow sprinkles. I remember spending countless hours turning these fruit loops into delicious necklaces during craft time. The colours are bright and vibrant which makes are a great gift.

Marshmallow Cereal Chocolate Bar

This last chocolate bar has pastel chocolate topped with marshmallow cereal and rainbow sprinkles. I think this was everyone’s favourite cereal pumped full of sugar since everyone would want to eat the marshmallow pieces. Ah, those Lucky Charms bring out the sweet tooth.

Boxed Candies

There are 3 new boxes candies that will entice your tastebuds if you aren’t into chocolate bars.

• Fruity Loops
• Cinnamon Crunchies
• Gummy Eggs

Fruity Loops

These Fruity Loops have a crispy cereal center covered in creamy milk chocolate, then dipped in a fruity candy shell. These are a great size to share with others are the flavours are on point and not too sweet.

Cinnamon Crunchies

The cinnamon toast centre is dipped in creamy milk chocolate and covered in a crisp candy shell. You don’t have to add milk to this sweet treat. Similar to the chocolate bar, it was another surprising flavour that wow’d our taste buds.

Gummy Eggs

My favourite item out of them all because I have a secret obsession with orange juice. They are cute and shaped like eggs. Even though it doesn’t taste like eggs, the orange juice flavour just shines through.

Final Thoughts

These 6 new items really make eating candy for breakfast a breeze and without judgement. All the items are fun and colourful. Of all the items, the cinnamon flavoured candies were the most surprising.

They all make for great gifts too.

Website:
https://www.sugarfina.com/

I love Thai Iced Tea and occasionally make it at home from scratch with the tea leaves. My friend came back from Thailand with some of their Instant Thai Iced Tea mix. I was intrigued since I wanted to see if I can cut down the time of making a yummy drink within minutes.

Looking at the package, it is mostly in Thai, except a small paragraph.

“Put 1 sachet of Instant Thai Tea mix into a up of 200ml hot water and stir. Then you can enjoy a cup of hot that tea or add ice to give you a glass of delicious Thai Iced Tea.”

I followed those instruction on the package and voila, Thai Iced Tea in minutes, but the big determining factor for this is if it tastes good.

Upon the first few sips, it is really really sweet. A bit too sweet for my personal tastes. I usually make mine with less sugar so I can taste of the tea aroma.

It’s definitely a handy product if you want instant Thai Tea, but the taste is subpar.

Lay’s Canada has introduced a line of limited edition chips –  StrEATS of the World featuring Grilled Cheese, Pizza and Taco flavours. I found these at my local grocery store, but only in the smaller 66g snack size bags. They are available now until October, so get them quick before its gone.

The 3 flavours seemed very typical as other chip companies have tried these flavours before. Either way, new limited edition flavours are still fun to try.

Grilled Cheese

Apparently, this is an ‘iconic’ street food of Canada served with a side of tomato dip. I don’t think so, but that’s what they decided to create. When you open up the bag, you can smell a smokey cheese aroma, but the ketchup isn’t really there.

Back in 2013, Lay’s Canada launched the Do Us a Flavour contest and Grilled Cheese and Ketchup was one of the finalists. I believe the tastes are different even though the description is similar.

Pizza

The pizza was fragrant and you can really taste the tomato and oregano. Of the 3 this was my favourite as it was the most similar to the real thing.

Taco

I had high hopes for this flavour but I tasted a subtle hints of tex mex seasoning with stronger notes of lettuce. It was weird and this was my least favourite of them.

Lays USA launched a similar version in 2017 called Crispy Taco, but the flavours are also different with mostly tex mex seasoning.

Final Thoughts

The 3 flavours were interesting, but of the three, only the pizza was good in my opinion. All the other ones just weren’t appetizing or close enough to the real thing. It’s definitely hard to replicate flavours into a chip format.

Website:
https://www.lays.ca/